CIMB Classic to be held at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club

Kuala Lumpur, June 13 (IANS) CIMB Group announced Thursday that the CIMB Classic, the first official PGA Tour FedExCup event in Asia, will move to the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC).

The announcement comes as Phil Mickelson -- winner of 41 PGA Tour events including four majors -- and the event's three past champions Ben Crane, Bo Van Pelt and 2012 winner Nick Watney, all confirmed to play in the tournament Oct 24-27.

The tourney is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour with the top-10 players from the Order of Merit qualifying for the prestigious event.

"This year CIMB Classic makes its debut as a full-fledged PGA Tour FedExCup event with an increased field and a new venue. KLGCC is a venue that will give us the scale we need to take it to the next level," said Dato' Sri Nazir Razak, CIMB Group's chief executive.

"The Mines Resort is a world-class facility and has been a great partner over last three years. We extend our greatest thanks and appreciation to their management and staff for all the effort in getting us to where we are today.

"We are delighted to have our past champions Ben, Bo and Nick back and we look forward to seeing Phil tee off in Malaysia for the first time," he added.

KLGCC is situated just eight kilometres away from the city. Originally opened in 1991, the West and East Courses were completely redesigned by renowned golf course architects E and G Parslow and re-opened in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

The course also serves as the host of the European Tour and Asian Tour's co-sanctioned Malaysian Open for the past four years, as well as the LPGA Malaysia for the past three.

Players will compete for an increased prize money of $7 million as compared to $6.1 million the year before. The tournament will feature 78 players, with 60 coming from the PGA Tour, 10 from the Asian Tour and eight sponsor's exemptions, including two Malaysians.

The winner of this competition will also gain a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

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